‘Climate resilience fund needed for creative sector’

When a Category 5 hurricane hits Jamaica, it doesn’t only topple trees and cause the devastation we are so familiar with seeing on our phones and TV screens. It also silences the street dances, it cancels concerts, it stops the artisan markets, it damages the filmmaker’s equipment and floods the potter’s studio. It essentially halts creative economy activities, putting artistes and cultural practitioners’ livelihoods at risk, and diverting funds from cultural investment toward basic recovery efforts.

Over the past week, I was stuck in Miami, as the airports closed while I was in transit to Jamaica from Jakarta. Indonesia was hosting the Global Creative Economy Council (GCEC) convening as well as meetings of the ASEAN Secretariat and Friends of the Creative Economy – founders of the World Conference on Creative Economy. This region is the third largest in the world behind India and China, with the fifth largest economy (GDP 3.8 trillion).

As we discussed progressive creative economy framework being launched in the ASEAN region, halfway across the globe, climate change loomed again as an ever-present threat to the Caribbean’s small island developing states.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, I’ve spoken to my colleagues on the GCEC about practical measures taken across the world to support creatives in crisis, and how these lessons could be applied to our own artistes, designers, filmmakers and musicians who are sitting in the dark, literally and figuratively.

Preliminary reports show that homes have been lost, instruments have been damaged, gigs are cancelled, and income disappeared overnight. These are the people who shape our culture, tell our stories and carry our collective memory. And yet, when disaster strikes, the creative sector is often invisible in the immediate relief planning and the longer-term national recovery planning.

The real irony here is that Jamaica emits roughly 8.8 million metric tons of CO₂ per year. In comparison, global emissions exceed 50 billion tons annually. But despite its tiny carbon footprint, Jamaica, like other Caribbean and small island states, faces some of the most severe impacts of climate change.

Jamaica also contributes disproportionately to global culture in a positive way. This tiny island nation has given the world reggae, dancehall, ska, mento, dub, and a rich literary and visual arts tradition that continues to influence music, fashion, film, and literature worldwide. Our cultural practitioners not only define Jamaica’s powerful identity but also shape global cultural trends, making the protection of creative livelihoods in this country of 2.8 million people, both a matter of local survival and an imperative for global cultural preservation.

NO SAFETY NETS

Creatives in Jamaica just don’t have the safety nets that other professions enjoy. After the passage of Hurricane Melissa, there is no desk job to return to, no paid leave, and no guaranteed income. Their local customers have likely also suffered damages and therefore have less purchasing power to acquire creative goods and services.

If COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s that the impact of the hurricane on creatives will unfold in waves. In the first days and weeks, work stops altogether. In the following months, the savings slowly deplete. Many will simply give up and find a different way to earn income. We lose not only jobs and their contribution to the creative economy, but we lose the music that heals us and brings us joy, the paintings that tell our stories, and the poetry and theatrical performances that remind us of who we are as a people.

It’s time to treat culture as critical infrastructure in Jamaica. That’s why Kingston Creative is calling for a Caribbean Artist Resilience Effort (CARE), a regional model that can be used across the Caribbean, designed to protect creative livelihoods in times of crisis.

The concept is simple: first create a national Creative Resilience Fund that provides short-term financial support and long-term resilience training for those most affected by the disaster. Drawing inspiration from the recently announced Irish Basic Income for the Arts, this fund would offer modest monthly stipends to those critically affected over a four to six-month period. Locally, our 501 (c) 3 partner, the American Friends of Jamaica will be a critical partner in raising these funds for creatives from the diaspora and funnelling them to Jamaica for distribution.

The CARE initiative would also give creatives free access to shared workspaces at the Kingston Creative Hub, studios and rehearsal spaces with reliable power and Internet, as well as mental health support sessions, training in disaster preparedness, and an equipment grant to replace tools, costumes and instruments lost in storms.

After Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, researchers found that communities that participated in arts activities were better able to rebuild, reconnect, and recover emotionally. Murals became symbols of strength. Music helped communities process grief and find hope. We can take that same lesson here in Jamaica, so that creative expression is not an afterthought, it is intentionally used as a form of recovery and healing for the nation.

To raise funds and awareness, leading entertainment companies are planning to come together to host a benefit concert. This event would bring together Caribbean artistes and musicians to mobilise global funds for those most affected by Hurricane Melissa, while celebrating the resilience that defines our island.

Andrea Dempster Chung is co-founder of Kingston Creative.